Improved apparatus for rendering lard, tallow



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NJEYERS. PHOTDMYHQGRAPNER. wAsHmGYON. n. E.

UNITED STATES PATENT AMos BnoADNAx, or MONT oLAIE, NEW JEEsEY.

IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR RENDERING LARD, TALLOW,v&c.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. S 1,743, datedSeptember 1,1868.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, AMos BRoADNAx, of thetown of Mont Clair, in the county of Essex and State of New Jersey,doing business at 161 Broadway, in the city of New York, have inventedcertain new and useful Improvements in Apparatus for Rendering andRening Lard, Tallow, and other Oleaginous Matter; and I do herebydeclare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description ofthesame, reference being had to the annexed drawing, making part hereof,and in which different gures illustrate different parts of my invention,and various methods of applying the same.

To accomplish the objects sought after in rendering and refining lard,lallow, and other oleaginons matter, the apparatus employed for thatpurpose should possess, first, a certain means ofabstracting quickly,and at small cost of labor and fuel, all the fat out of the tissuetreated, without burning or otherwise injuringthe product or the refuse,and without impregnating them with the offensive odor of the gases andvapors evolved in the process, leaving the fat well cooked, dried, andsweet, and the scrap crisp, sweet, and dry; second, a certain means ofdestroying the offensive gases and vapor evolved in the process lofrendering.

In the old process of rendering fat, which is still largely practiced,the material is put in an open pan or kettle, to which the re isdirectly applied, until the fat, which is constantl y stirred, ismelted, cooked, and dried.7 rlhe tallow, when beef-fat is rendered, isthen nearly all drawn or dipped out, leaving just sufficient to nicelycover the scrap or graves. rlhese are left in and cooked until theycrisp.77 They are then taken out and pressed, and the remainder of thefat is dipped out in a separate vessel, which completes the process.

rJhe objections to this method are, lirst, the liability of burning thefat, making the constant attention of a man necessary` to stir it andregulate the fire, and the production of two qualities of fat, that inwhich the scrap is crisp not being so good as that at lirst dipped outof the pan; second, the offensive gases .and vapors developed in theprocess, all of which are ydriven off in the establishment,

making it a nuisance; third, the extravagant consumption of fuel andlabor resulting from an injudicious application of the heat. Thisprocess is known among melters as theiold lire process, and is stilladhered to by many on account of the superior quality of the renderedfat, and on account of the scrap, which in this method can be saved; butin many places this process has been superseded by what is known as thestealn process, of which there are various modifications, all of which,however, proceed. upon substantially the same principle. In this processthe fat is put in a tight digester, in which the steam is generated, orintroduced from a separate boiler, the pressure in the digester beingraised high enough and continued long enough to yield and maintain thetemperature necessary to melt the fat.

In this method all the grease can be abstracted from the matterrendered; but the process is subject to the following objections: First,on account of the inferior quality of the rendered fat, which is almostalways impregnated withvan offensive odor, and is more or less soft inconsistency and opaque in color, which is due to confining the gas andsteam on the fat, and on account of the offensive odor from the digesterwhen opened, or when the steam and gas are allowed to escape; second, onaccountof theloss of the scrap, which l it is not only impossible topress, but which is also offensive with the foul gases and vapors, andis t for nothing but manure, and is very much injured even for that, asthe gluten is nearly or; quite abstracted; third, on account of itsliability to burst.

l have now described the two methods of melting fat, and have pointedout what I uit derstand to be the principal objections to them,respectively, as heretofore practiced. I have also described in ageneral w'ay what qualities a rendering apparatus should possess toavoid the objections above pointed out and answer the conditionsrequired of it by the trade and the public.

ed to me on the 15th dayof October, 1867, embodies substantially thedesired qualities; but since that invention was made further experiencehas suggested a more perfect detail, as well as many substantialadditions, all of which I have developed and reduced to a practicalform.

And now, to enable those skilled in that branch of the arts to whichthis invention appertains to make and use the same, I will proceed-todescribe the different parts, modiiications, and forms thereof, as Ipropose to apply them, and some of which are illustrated by thedifferent figures in the accompanying dra'wings.

aIiigure l shows a longitudinal vertical section, and Fig. 2 atransverse vertical section, through a rectangular brick chamber, A, inthe bottom of which a brick-covered furnace, B, is formed, with flues aa radiating on all sides into the chamber A. In this brick chamber aniron chamber, (l, is placed, made in the same form as the chamber A,only smaller by from eight to twelve inches in each dimension, the metalchamber being arranged in the brick one so as to leave a flue or openspace on all sides of it from four to six inches wide, the chamber Cbeing` supported in a rectangular metal piece arranged in relation tothe Iiues a so as to divide the heat from the furnace, causing a portionof it to iiow under the chamber C, and a portion of it up around thesides and over the top thereof. This chamber() should be made tight andfitted with a man-hole, H, supplied with a cover and the usual mountingsto make and keep it tight. In the inside of this metal chamber C thereis set an open rectangular pan, D D, the end plates whereof extend upand form a bearing for the gudgeon f of a large perforated cylinder, G,the said end plates being stiffened with angle-iron, as shown by j j.This pan is in length and breadth from eight to twelve inches less thanthe internal diameter of the chamber in which it is set, and arranged toleave an open space between it and the said chamber of from four to sixinches wide, the pan being supported by brackets, so as to continue thespace under the bottom as well as at the sides thereof, as shown by thedrawing. The space under the bottom, however, may be dispensed with,though I think it best to retain it, to avoid even the possibility ofburning the fat. This panis also fitted with a perforated partition, E,and a nozzle or man-hole, F, made to pass through the chainber C, towhich it should be riveted or other'- wise secured, so as to make atight joint between the chambers A and C. Said nozzle is also iittedwith a cover, which should be steamtight, and with the usual mountingsto secure it. Said nozzle should be applied to said pan so as to bringthe bottom thereof on the same plane with the perforated partition,making the bottom of the nozzle and the top of the partition oneunobstructed surface, to facilitate the removal of the scrap. Theperforated BIJ/13 cylinder G is made of boiler-iron, and is providedwith a door or doors, l l, hinged to the shell of the cylinder, andsecured in any convenient manner, s'o as to open outward, that when thefastenin gs by which they are secured are cast oif, and the cylinderturned upside down in relation to the position it is shown to occupy bythe drawing, the doors will fall open and the contents of the cylinderout on the perforated partition. This perforated cylinder is also fittedwith prongs d d, set in the inside thereof opposite the doors, for thepurpose of carrying the fat over with the cylinder when it is made torotate upon its axis. The gudgeon or central shaft f of the cylinder ismade longenough to reach to the outside of the brickwork and receive acrank by which the cylinder can be turned. Where said shaft passesthrough the chamber O it should be iitted with a stuffing-box, c, tomake a tight joint between the two chambers. To the upper part of thechamber C a pipe, I, is attached, which leads to a pipe, J, set in thebrick work, forming the wall of the furnace B, the gratebars of whichare shown by t'. This pipe J is made to surround the furnace on allsides, excepting that part immediately in front ot' the furnace-door,and is provided with numerous branch pipes leadinginto the furnacethrough the wall, upon which it is supported. The pipe I should be abouttwo and a half .inches internal diameter, and the pipe J about four anda half inches in the same dimension, and the area of all the branchpipes should bea little in excess of that of the main pipe J, so thatthe steam and gas from the chamber C will flow into the fire with aconstantly-decreasing resistance. p

The operation of this apparatus is as follows, that is to say: The roughfat is put into the perforated cylinder, a fire is made in the furnace,the heat of which ascends and envelops the chamber C on every side, andthrough it the heat is radiated upon the fat. As the rendering proceedsthe cylinder G should be turned occasionally to break the mass ofmelting fat, and expose the dili'erent parts thereof to the heat, theprongs d keeping the cylinder from slipping around the fat, throwing itover, tumbling and parting the mass, and admitting the heat to theinterior thereof.

In this process, as fast as the melting advances, the lard or tallowvruns through the perforations in the cylinder, and through theperforated partition into the pan D, the steam and gas going oft'through the pipes I and J into the fire. After the fat is all melted outof the tissue the latter, after it has been thoroughly dried andcrisped, is allowed to fall out ot' the cylinder through the doors Z onthe partition E, from whence it is drawn, by means of a hoe or rake, outthrough the nozzle F; and the rendered fat, after the water is drivenout of it, is drawn out through the pipe h into suitable receivers.

This apparatus involves substantially the same principle as that forwhich the patent was granted tome as af'oresaid on the 15th day ofOctober, 1867, differing from that, however, in that the fat in thiscase is put into a perforated cylinder hung upon its axis, to re- Yvolve, tumble, andeXpose every partof the fat `to the direct rays of theheat, instead of `relying upon the surface of the digester for itsrendering efficiency. This apparatus, moreover, furnishes a -much more,vefficient method of drying andcrisping the scrap 5 butthe heat isapplied in substantially the same \vay,and

into practice is fully shown and described. I.

will, therefore, briefly state the principle here, as it will lead to abetter understanding of the modifications of `the invention to behereinafter described.` t The principle is this; Animal matter, afterhaving been slaughtereda short time, becomes sour, and emits anoffensive odor, even at vthe ordinary temperature of the atmosphere,showing that the gases evolved in its decomposition go off at a lowtemperature. Now, if this sour matter be put in a vesseh such as aboveW'described, for example, and the temperature raised to about 2000 ofFahrenheit, this gas will go off very rapidly, and most of it beforeV.the constitutional water inthe fat is liberatedr and vaporized. Byt-hese means most of the gases will be separated from the water andother matter, and will present themselves to the fire unmixed withsteam, and in a proper condition for consumption. lThese gases are allcombustible, and will readily burn if properly presented to the fire.They must come mixed with as little steam as possible, and they mustcome slowly, not under pressure, with a high velocity, for, in thatcase, they will escape before they have had time for consumption. Thegas and steam pipes must be large enough to let the gas first -and thenthe steam pass off as fast as it is evolved, leaving it to l flow slowlyinto the furnace in numerous comparatively small `jets, and theconsumption will be perfect.

The use of the apparatus completely verifies the theory, for, after thesour fat has been thoroughly heated and cooked, the cocks may.

be opened and the steam allowed to flow into 'the building without beingin the least offensive.

Fig. 3 is another modification of my inven- V tion. It illustrates avertical, section through an apparatus embodying all of the features ofthat last described, excepting the revolving perforated cylinder. Inthis apparatus the fat is put into an open kettle, A, inclosed in aclose chamber, B, which, in its turn, is inclosed in a brick chamber, C,all of the vessels being cylindrical in form'and set over the furnace,.the same as iu the other case, the furnace here being alsocylindrical.` The melting-.pan in this apparatus is divided by aperforated partition, D, under which the cylindrical shell isperforated, as shown by a a a, to admit the hotair under the partition Dand into the fat, which is put in the upper part of the pan and rests onthe partition, the melted fat running through the holes in thedividing-plate into the bottom part of the pan, from whence it is drawnthrough the pipe b. After the rendering is completed and the fat andscrap sufficiently cooked, dried, andcrisped, the scrap is drawn outfrom o' the division-plate through the nozzle E.

In this case the bottom of the metal chamber B is perforated a't thecenter over a surface of about two feet in diameter, to allow the heatto flow up around the melting-pan and throng-h the fat, and this mayalso be done in` the case of the apparatus last described, if it shouldbe found desirable 5 but I think it will be found safer to rely upon theheat radiated through the metal, which will be found ample, there being'no difficulty whatever in maintaining the temperature at from 4500 to5000 of V/ Fahrenheit. The construction of the furnace and the pipe forconveying the gas and steam to the fire, and their relation to eachother, are the same, substantially, as in the apparatus last described.This apparatus is, however, provided with a nozzle, F, to ventilate andcool the melting-pan after the rendering is compl eted. The pan is, ofcourse, charged through the man-hole G, which is fitted with asteamtight cover and the usual mountings to secure it, as is also thenozzle E, substantially as shown. l-

Y By Fig. 4 of the drawing there is illustrated a central verticalsection through an apparatus substantially the same as that for whichthe said patent of the 15th of' October, 1867, was granted to me,differing from that, however, in that the iiues in this case are put inthe digester A horizontally, leaving the whole bottom of the tankunobstructed, to facilitate the removal of the scrap, through the nozzleB, off of the perforated false bottom C, this apparatus being fittedwith ventilators D,` as in the case of the patent above referred to. Thefurnace of this apparatus is nevertheless different from that; and thefines thereof also differ somewhat, in their relation to the apparatus,from the two forms of apparatus last described,

in this, that the whole heat of the furnace is thrown into the spacebetween the brick and the metal chambers which inclose the digester,relying, in this case, upon the heat radiated through the chamber E andthe iron of the digester to melt the fat, which has hitherto been foundample for thatpurpose. In other respects the furnace of this apparatusis the same as that of those last described, and the means of disposingof the noxious gasesand vapors is also the same 5 but to this apparatusthere are additions not shown in any of the others, and which I will nowproceed to describe. One of these additions consists in drawing hot air,by means of a pump, Gr, out of the chamber in which the digester isplaced through a pipe, H, and forcing the said hot air, by means of thesame pump, back into the digester through the pipe 1, the pump being theordinary air-pump for forcing and drawing air. The object of thisaddition is to hasten the operation of rendering by forcing the hot airinto immediate contact with the tissue.

Another of these additions consists in creating a vacuum in the digesterby means of an air-pump, J, and a condenser, K, and by that means drawthe hot air out of the chamber around the digester to the inside thereofthrough the pipes ft a, which reach up inside of the chamber nearly ashigh as the digester, to keep the melted fat from running out into thechamber. The pump in this case is the common air-pump, and the pipeleading from it to the condenser is shown by e, and thedelivery-pipehthereof is shown by and the pipe leading from the digesterto the condenser is shown by b, the injection-pipe by c. The condenseris of the ordinary open -jet variety, fitted with a perforated plate, d,to cre-ate a spray, and induce a more complete condensation. i'

When this condenser is used, or any similar device, the steam and gaspipe R is left olf, the steam being condensed and the offensive gasabsorbed in the water. N ow, this water in hot weather will give up thegases held by it in solution, and will consequently emit a veryoli'ensive and unhealthy odor, due to the. gases which are constantlygoing olf under the high temperature of summer. 1t is thereforedesirable to separate these gases from the water, and consume thembefore they leave the apparatus. This object I accomplish by deliveringthe water from the pump into an evaporator or heater, by which I raisethe temperature of the Water high enough to set the gases free withoutevaporatin g it into steam, allowing the water to run out of the bottomof the heater into the sewer or gutter, and the gases to escape througha pipe into the re for consumption.

rl`he heater in this'case consists of a plain metal cylinder, w, set onsuitable supports in a heating-chamber, '0, formed inside of a brick orcolnposition wall, m.

In the inside of the cylinder w there are fitted, upon four standards, klc, a series of conical plates, i t' andjj, the upper cone, t, be ingarranged with its apex directly under the center of the dclivery-pipef,and with its base, which is serrated, setting in the inverted side ot'the conej, in the center of which a hole is made, into which the apex ofthe succeeding cone fi is arranged, and so on through the series. N ow,t-he water, in entering this heater,

first strikes the apex of the top conc, and spreads over its uppersurface, and then over the inside surface of the conej; thence over theoutside surface of 'the succeeding cone, and so on from one surface tothe other, heating and driving off the gases, until it reaches thebottom and escapes through the pipe I), the gas escaping through thepipe h into the fire, and the smoke and other unconsumed product of thefurnace I escape through the pipe ginto the smoke and fire flue of theappa- TELUS.

To prevent the heater from getting too hot and from burning out, thereis a fire-brick or plate, z, placed over the furnace, with iiues c madein its periphery to let the heat into the chamber; but `the furnace ofthis heater may be dispensed with altogether by setting the heater onthe apparatus, or in such relation to it as to draw the heat for itsoperation directly from the main furnace of the apparatus.

Fig. 5 illustrates another modification of my invention. This figure isa vertical section through the apparatus, which consists of a closecylindrical digester, A A, with a large flue, B, through the centerthereof. In this case the digester is set in a brick chamber over thefurnace, which is constructed substantially the same as those heretoforedescribed, differing from them, however, in thatit hasa separate flue,C, leading to the chimney, by which the heat can be turned off of the digester altogether. This furnace is also provided with a damper, a a,over the dues leading to the space l) under the tank, and the iiueleading up and enveloping the tank is also provided with a damper, c, bywhich, with the aid of thermometers, the temperature around the digestercan be regulated with absolute certainty, the dampers being Worked by alever through the Ventilating-hole F. The smoke and other unconsumedgases that escape from the furnace when the heat is turned on theapparatus pass up through the pipe E, each smokeilue being provided witha damper to regulate the draftof the furnace. rlhe provision in thisapparatus for carrying oft' and consuming the gases is the same as inFigs. l and 2. The drawing in this case shows but one nozzle, G, fortaking the scrap out of the apparatus; but there should be two, onearranged on each side of the central flue, B. The digester is, ofcourse, charged through the manholes H H.

Fig. 6 illustrates the same form of the inventlon as that shown in Figs.l and 2, with the gas and steam pipe leading to a surface -condenser,consisting of a series of plates riveted together and coiled up in theform of a scroll, as shown by b b.

The steam and gas enter a main pipe, c, and pass from that into eachcoil of the condenser through the branch pipes made on said main pipe,and leading to the holes shown in the respective coils on the line b I)of the plan.

This coil is set in a tank on brackets, so as to Lhave a water-spacebet-Ween it and the bottom of the tank, and the tank is supplied -Witha'Water-pipe, d, leading through the tank and down to the space `underthe coil, by which the cold Water is introduced into the bottom, and thehot or Warm water is discharged through the flow-pipe c, and the waterof condensation is discharged through the pipe f into the heater, whichis precisely the same asthat above described, and shown inconuectionwith Fig. 4, and :is used for precisely the same purpose; but in thiscase only the water `of condensation has to be heated, whereas in theother case, the condenser being an open ber, to which the heatcan beapplied and regulated, substantially in the manner described.

2. Rendering fat by putting it in a tumbling perforated chamber, out ofwhich the f'at and water can be drained as fast as the melting proceeds,andin which the scrap can be dried when said perforated tumbling chamberis confined in a chamber which can Vbe heated tothe requiredtemperature.

3. Combining av perforated rendering-vessel which can be rotated, andwhichis confined in a hot chamber, over or 'in connection with a panarranged to receive the fat and water set free in the process. Y Y

`4.. Constructing a covered furnace with radiating lines, substantiallyas described, in the bottom of a chamber, and. arranging in said chamberand over said furnace a rendering apparatus, substantially as set forth.

5. Combining in a chamber tol which the heat can be applied and thetemperature regulated, substantially as described, an openrendering-kettle, divided by a perforated partition-plate in such manneras to form an upper and a lower chamber, making the lower chamber largeenough to hold all the grease or oil which can be extracted from a fullcharge of fat in the upper chamber, leaving the scrap, afterthe processis completed, on the plate above the surface of the rendered fat.

6. Rendering fat by forcing hot air out of a chamber in which thetemperature can be regulated into the digester by means of a pump,substantially as described. 1 7. Rendering fat or other oleaginousmatter by drawing a-current of hot air into the digester or upon the fatout of a chamber in which the temperature can be regulated, by means ofa partial or complete vacuum created in the digester through the agencyof a condenser and pump, or in any ofthe well-known methods of creatingav complete or partial vacuum, substantially as described.

8. Separating the offensive gases from the Vcondense-water, anddestroying the same by passing said condense-water, whether out of anopen or surface condenser, through a heater combined or connected withthe apparatus, by which the gas is driven out of the Water as it owsfrom. the condenser into the fire, or is otherwise disposed of,substantially in the manner described.

AMOS BROADNAX. Witnesses ELS. FIRMAN,

EDWARD P. FLINT.

